How does renly baratheon die

Renly says that no-one wants Stannis for their king. Renly says that Stannis never wanted friends but that a man without friends is a man without power. Stannis says that he will give Renly the night to reconsider for the sake of their mother. He offers to restore Renly to his seat on the council and to name him as his heir until he has a son if he strikes his banners; otherwise he will destroy Renly.

Renly reminds Stannis of his numerous supporters and says that they will make him king. Stannis rides away as Melisandre warns Renly to look to his sins because "the night is dark and full of terrors. Catelyn meets with Renly in his command tent. Two of his kingsguard are outside while Brienne stands watch inside the tent. Renly has Catelyn swear that her son Robb has no interest in challenging him for the Iron Throne. Renly drinks from a goblet thoughtfully and announces that he sees no reason for hostility between them.

He offers his terms; Robb can retain the title of King in the North, and control of all lands north of Moat Cailin , but must swear fealty to Renly as Eddard did to Robert eighteen years earlier.

Renly stands before a mirror and Brienne helps him out of his cloak. Catelyn beseeches him to reconsider negotiating with Stannis. He asks her to take his terms to Robb and says that he sees them as natural allies and hopes that Robb feels the same.

He suggests that acting together they could end the war in a fortnight. An unnatural gust parts the tents opening and black smoke rushes inside. Catelyn and Brienne are stunned while Renly watches transfixed in his mirror. The smoke coalesces into a human shape and stabs Renly through the chest.

In the mirror its face resembles Stannis. The smoke dissipates and Renly collapses forward. Brienne wails and catches him as he slides to the ground dead. Brienne kills both men while defending herself against their accusations.

Brienne is still blamed by many for Renly's murder, so she flees the camp with Catelyn. Renly's body is laid on a slab while Loras grieves and vows to kill Stannis for this, as he doesn't believe Brienne is responsible. Littlefinger and Margaery persuade him to leave for Highgarden, as he cannot take revenge if he is dead. Renly's forces largely swear fealty to Stannis when he arrives the next day. House Tyrell lead their troops back to Highgarden. As Brienne escorts Jaime Lannister back to King's Landing at the behest of Catelyn Stark in an attempt to exchange him for her daughters, he inquires as to how she came to be in Lady Catelyn's service.

With minimal probing, he quickly realizes she had originally pledged for Renly. Jaime then proceeds to make cruel japes at Brienne for loving Renly whose "proclivities were the worst kept secret at court. Later, when the two of them are sharing a communal bath against Brienne's wishes , Jaime, who has since lost his sword hand, reminds her of the vow she made to deliver him to King's Landing in one piece.

He agitates her for failing to protect Renly but quickly apologizes upon gauging her reaction. Jaime then regales Brienne with what really happened when he slew the Mad King , and asks her if she would have kept her oath if Renly had commanded her to do the same things as Aerys did, but Brienne is too stunned by Jaime's story to answer.

Meanwhile, over in Dragonstone, Stannis makes preparations to have Robert's bastard son Gendry sacrificed as part of his plan to win the Iron Throne. His Hand Davos Seaworth tries to dissuade him from doing so by reminding him that Gendry shares his blood, to which Stannis replies, "So did Renly.

Several weeks after their arrival in King's Landing, Brienne visits Margaery and describes what she saw and how the shadow had Stannis's face; she assures Margaery that she will find a way to avenge their king. During the wedding feast, a play also takes place in which the War of the Five Kings is acted out by dwarves, including a dwarf playing the role of Renly. Loras witnesses the play and is visibly upset by the way Renly is represented in it.

Following a sequence in which the Renly dwarf is repeatedly stabbed by the Stannis dwarf, echoing the events of the real murder, Loras is so angry and distraught that he storms away from the event, knocking his chair over as he goes. She reveals that as a young girl, her father held a ball and invited dozens of young lords in order to find a good match for her.

Brienne was captivated by all the attention she was getting, but her happiness turned to embarrassment when Brienne realized they were all just toying with her. Before she could run away, Renly took Brienne into his arms and told her that those "nasty little shits aren't worth crying over" and danced with her. As Podrick starts to bring up Renly's homosexuality, Brienne somewhat irritably acknowledges that she knew Renly was only interested in men and that he was only being kind to her, but that still didn't stop her from loving him.

She says that there is nothing more hateful than failing to protect the ones you love, and intends to avenge Renly by killing Stannis, whom she correctly believes played a role in Renly's murder after witnessing his death by a Shadow resembling Stannis. Meanwhile, back in King's Landing, Renly's lover Loras is arrested by the Faith Militant on charges of buggery after being informed upon by Cersei.

During his holy inquest by the Faith, the High Sparrow grills him about his relationship with Renly. Loras of course denies that he was ever Renly's lover, that they were merely friends and he was wrong to support his claim to the Iron Throne, adding that he fought for Joffrey at the Battle of the Blackwater. The High Sparrow points out that Loras was wearing Renly's armor at that battle, making his testimony sound less believable but Loras stands his ground, saying he never lay with Renly or any other men.

His sister Margaery, who of course was also Renly's widow for a time, defends her brother when she is called upon to testify but this leads to her own arrest for perjury when the Faith bring forth the prostitute Olyvar , who truthfully tells them that about his own relationship with Loras. Renly is finally avenged by Brienne following the Battle of Winterfell where Stannis's army is smashed by the forces of Roose Bolton.

Brienne finds a wounded Stannis, sentences him to die and personally kills him after he acknowledges his role in Renly's murder. After Brienne and Sansa Stark reach Winterfell, Brienne later confronts Davos Seaworth and Melisandre, and tells them that she was the one who killed Stannis after his confession about Renly's death, leaving the two of Stannis's former allies stunned.

During his trial held on the first day of the Festival of the Mother , Loras Tyrell confesses his sins to the High Sparrow and the other six judging septons , including sleeping with Renly, shocking the gathered crowd in the Great Sept of Baelor. This takes place just before the Sept of Baelor is destroyed with wildfire in a plot orchestrated by Cersei Lannister and Qyburn , killing all of those inside and nearby the Great Sept, including Renly's lover himself, Loras.

The aftermath of this plot sees the death of King Tommen, thus rendering House Baratheon extinct as Renly, nor Stannis, left no heirs. During a drinking game, Jaime correctly guesses that Brienne danced with Renly.

Renly was established to have an extremely strained relationship with his two brothers, Robert and Stannis. The long-ridiculed youngest brother, originally Renly saw no hope of ever becoming king as there were too many heirs with claims better than his for the Iron Throne.

With inspiration from his lover Loras Tyrell , however, Renly arrogantly flouted the line of succession and declared himself king ahead of Stannis after Robert died. However, his strained relationship with his brothers didn't prevent him from complimenting Robert behind his back that he used to be good at killing and showing concern when he was mortally wounded by the boar.

He expressed open disgust toward Littelinger, partly because of his betrayal of Robert, asking if his brother's body was even cold before he changed alliances. Renly also claimed to have once loved Stannis after their final encounter, making him the only brother to say as much about one of the others whereas Robert openly stated he never loved either of them.

Stannis pretty much says the same about Robert but claims to grieve for Renly in a way after he murders him. However, Stannis does not show genuine remorse for the act until after he is defeated at the Battle of the Blackwater. Unlike his other brothers, who undoubtedly would make bad kings but were skilled in battle; Robert, a fierce warrior but incompetent king, and Stannis a proven battle commander but unmerciful lord, Renly never raised a sword in combat.

Adding to this, he used to become uneasy around violence and blood, throwing up when a knight was maimed after jousting and even after Loras cut him to prove a point, Renly was still squeamish and treated it as if it was a mortal wound. According to him, all he heard about from Robert was how he was never "tough" enough, and came to resent the idea that good soldiers automatically make good kings, which was seen when Ned Stark attempted to reinforce Stannis as the rightful heir.

He disregarded the fact that a king, while having to be charismatic and peaceful, also had to be legitimately strong, which his brothers were on account of being respectively skilled warriors and commanders. Despite his lackluster on the battlefield, Renly was skilled in politics. He became a member of Robert's small council while he was alive and forged a marriage alliance with House Tyrell to support his claim for the Throne, gaining more bannermen and strengthening his army by marrying Margaery Tyrell.

At the same time however, the prospect of a marriage alliance was to create a line of children, which he was was unable to do on account of his homosexuality until Margaery reformed that their marriage was only on paper.

Renly was patient; for all of his zeal to obtain the title of king he was capable of waiting until Robb Stark had weakened the forces in King's Landing and take control later on. He also had some understanding of warfare tactics and planned to take Joffrey hostage after learning of his true parentage to weaken House Lannister so there would be no opposition for his titles.

He was also very receptive to an alliance with the Starks and the Tullys as he sympathized with them over the execution of Ned Stark although he made such an alliance conditional to them swearing fealty to him as King; unlike Stannis, however, he wisely did not threaten them with retribution for not submitting, recognizing that it was Joffrey's threats and killing of Ned that had made them rebel in the first place.

For all of his ambitions, Renly only attempted to assist his own claim and never neutralized those against him. He relied on Joffrey's illegitimacy, made aware by Stannis who also fought for the Iron Throne to support his right and never attempted to demoralize Stannis to his army even though, in the eyes of the Seven Kingdoms, Stannis possessed the most solid claim in comparison to Renly.

He relied on his charisma and popularity for the support of his troops rather than propaganda, and disregarded the royal line of succession in favor of the rightful ruler being the best suited, which was automatically him in his opinion.

Renly was also a tolerant man, as he allowed Brienne of Tarth to join his Kingsguard , whereas many scorned her for her gender and lack of virtue. In addition, Renly was legitimately kind to Brienne, saving her from scorn when they first met and comforting her, and voicing to Loras that he appreciated her devotion to him. Scottish actor Sam Heughan auditioned for the role of Renly, as well as for the role of Loras and also a number of members of the Night's Watch. Heughan went on to star as Jamie Fraser in the live-action adaptation of Outlander , opposite Tobias Menzies , who played Edmure Tully.

He is fifteen years younger than King Robert, whom he strongly resembles in appearance, charisma, and personality. He is the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands and the Lord of Storm's End, a source of friction between him and his brother Stannis, who holds the far colder, poorer and more isolated castle of Dragonstone in the King's name.

Renly is tremendously friendly, open and honorable, but also has a tendency towards flippancy and not taking events seriously. His closest friend - and lover - at court is his former squire, Ser Loras Tyrell , now a formidable knight. Renly on behalf of Loras has been helping them he talks about this with Stannis in the negotiation of Storm's End, Stannis taunts him for taking Robert's leavings.

Renly wants Robert to put Cersei aside to marry Margaery. Eddard is oblivious, he thinks it's funny that a man who looks like a young Robert, Renly, has now imagined the woman he loves, Margaery, is a young Lyanna.

In the novels, the relationship between Loras and Renly is more subtly depicted than in the TV series, with only guarded references to the relationship in the interactions between other characters. This is largely due to the narrative mechanics: Renly, Loras, and Margaery are not POV characters in the first two books.

However, author George R. Martin has independently confirmed that they were involved in a relationship. In the negotiation scene with Stannis, Renly tells him that Margaery came to him a maiden, Stannis replies that in his bed, she will die one. Brienne is in love with Renly and cried at his wedding. Littlefinger and Varys seem to know due to their spy rings , and even Jaime Lannister makes an off-hand comment about it at one point.

When directly asked how widely Renly's relationship with Loras was known about citing that even Jaime knew , George R. Martin's only response was "what do you think? Loras mentions at one point after Renly's death that he owned books with "drawings that would turn a septon blind," implying that he possessed quite an impressive collection of gay porn.

From all evidence, though, it seems that Renly and Loras were monogamous and faithful to each other. Loras never said what happened to Renly's extensive book collection after he died.

Renly is described as possessing an uncanny physical resemblance to his older brother Robert when Robert was his age.

Robert was considered quite an attractive man in his youth before the stress of ruling led him to overeating and drinking. Renly is considered even more attractive. Sansa remarks that Renly is the most attractive man she has ever seen. In the first novel, A Game of Thrones , Renly is described as having green eyes. However, in the second novel, A Clash of Kings , he is described as having blue eyes.

Author George R. Martin only noticed this error when fans pointed it out. Therefore, in a later book, Martin included a wink at his previous mistake by having a character recall that Renly had "blue-green" eyes, which looked blue or green depending on the light he was standing in. The matter is rendered moot in the TV series, as actor Gethin Anthony has brown eyes. In the books, the way Renly regards Robb's coronation demonstrates very clearly the differences between him and Stannis: Stannis, blunt and tactless as ever, tells Catelyn "I am the rightful king, and your son no less a traitor than my brother here.

His day will come as well" - thus ruining any chance of alliance with the Starks. Renly, on the other hand, acts diplomatically in that matter: he makes it clear to Catelyn that he won't let Robb secede the North from the authority of the Iron Throne, but he's willing to let him rule the North and the Riverlands, and even hold the title of King in the North - but he demands Robb to swear fealty to him, and accept him as his overlord.

Renly's manner of death is slightly different in the books. Instead of stabbing him in the chest, the shadow slits his throat, cutting through his steel gorget "like cheesecloth". Renly did not have a Kingsguard, but founded a new order, the Rainbow Guard, identical to the Kingsguard in almost every way. Each member had a different color that they wore, i. In the books, when Stannis confronts Renly at their final parley, Renly flippantly offers him a peach, to emphasize that he doesn't take Stannis' threat seriously.

The TV series removed this though Renly does inspect an apple while meeting with Littlefinger in his tent in " Garden of Bones ". Fans were initially baffled at why such a seemingly inconsequential but cherished moment from the books was omitted. As writer Bryan Cogman later explained that what happened was:.

In the third novel " A Storm of Swords ", the old woods witch known as the Ghost of High Hill speaks about Renly: " I dreamt I saw a shadow with a burning heart butchering a golden stag.

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Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Renly Baratheon. View source. History Talk 5. Do you like this video? Play Sound. He's not a king. Eddard Stark : " Renly. I told them this meeting could wait another day. Petyr Baelish : " One hundred gold dragons on the Mountain. A dozen barrels of Dornish wine? Or a girl from the pleasure houses of Lys? They may be the most pompous, ponderous cunts the gods ever suffered to walk the world, but they do have outrageous amounts of money.

Robert Baratheon : " Those were the days! The ones where half of Westeros fought the other half and millions died? Or before that, when the Mad King slaughtered women and babies because the voices in his head told him they deserved it?! Or way before that, when dragons burned whole cities to the ground?!

You might be my brother, but you're speaking to the King. You have odd notions about protecting the Realm! That didn't matter when you rebelled against the Mad King, it shouldn't matter now! What's best for the Kingdoms? What's best for the people we rule?

We all know what Stannis is. He inspires no love or loyalty. He's led men into war twice, he destroyed the Greyjoy fleet. So was Robert! Tell me something, do you still believe good soldiers make good kings? I don't like your face, I don't like the words that come oozing out of your mouth, I don't want you in my tent one minute more than necessary.

So, tell me. Why are you here? You never wanted any friends, brother, but a man without friends is a man without power! Is he a ham? I loved him once. I believe we are natural allies, I hope he feels the same. Together, we can end this war in a fortnight. That thrones are only made for the hated and the feared? You would be a wonderful king. Petyr Baelish : " I did notice your brother entering His Grace's tent just now.

Not only to me, but to the realm. He was very gallant. He would have been a wonderful king. Jaime Lannister : " Sounds like you quite fancied him. Did you ever tell him?

No, of course not. You weren't Renly's type, I'm afraid. He preferred curly-haired little girls like Loras Tyrell. You're far too much man for him. It's all true about Renly. His proclivities were the worst kept secret at court. It's a shame the throne isn't made out of cocks. They'd have never got him off it. And I don't blame you, either. We don't get to choose who we love. Davos Seaworth : " Because he has your blood in his veins.

Renly declared himself king when the throne belonged to you. He raised an army, stole your bannermen. Renly was the king's brother after all He danced with me because he was kind and didn't want to see me hurt. He saved me from being a joke from that day until his last day. Brienne of Tarth : " I am Brienne of Tarth. He also did not fault himself for abandoning Ned Stark to the mercy of the Lannisters after Stark refused to support his claim, not accounting for the fact that he still could have aided Ned regardless in order to overthrow Cersei, and been given great respect by Stannis as a result.

Catelyn notes that, in great spite of his charisma, Renly has overlooked many factors in his bid for the Iron Throne. Renly is homosexual, despite the amount of attention he receives from highborn females.

He disdains from book learning, believing that only maesters should read. He does, however, possess some books with "drawings that would turn a septon blind", implying some form of pornography.

He was their youngest son. He was a young child during Robert's Rebellion , and spent the conflict under siege at Storm's End with his brother, Stannis.

This action angered Stannis, who felt that he was the rightful lord. Instead, Stannis was given Dragonstone. When he turned sixteen, Renly partook in a tour of the Stormlands, to celebrate his coming of age. He also visited Sunspear at some point, where Arianne Martell tried to seduce him.

He seemed more bemused than inflamed by her advances. At some point whilst lord of Storm's End he took a young Loras Tyrell as a squire. This was likely the start of their secret love affair. Brella ran his household whilst he was in King's Landing. Ser Cortnay Penrose served as the castellan of Storm's End. He is "near twenty" when we first meet him. He is present when Arya Stark is brought before the king.

He laughs out loud when hearing of Prince Joffrey Baratheon 's defeat at the hands of a small girl, and at the name that Joffrey had given his sword. Renly is dispatched ahead of the royal party, with the orders to command Grand Maester Pycelle to convene a meeting of the small council.

There, he reveals that Robert has left orders for a tourney to be arranged, celebrating the appointment of Lord Eddard Stark as Hand of the King. He later rides in said tourney, being unhorsed by Sandor Clegane , who sends him flying. His impact is such that a part of the golden antler on his helm cracks, which he graciously gifts to Sandor, who throws it into the commons dismissively.

Renly is considered a favourite of the spectators. While his brother lies dying, Renly proposes to Eddard to strike when the castle sleeps, wanting to take control. Renly later arrives at Highgarden , where he marries Margaery Tyrell.

Renly holds a tourney at Bitterbridge when Catelyn arrives, asking for help for Robb. She is disgusted to see Renly hold a tourney instead of fighting a war, like her son does.